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The World's top figure skaters including reigning Olympic Champion Yuzuru Hanyu (JPN), 2010 Olympic Champions Tessa Virtue/Scott Moir (CAN), World, European and Four Continents Champions and medalists will kick off the hot phase of the Olympic season by competing in the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating series in the 2017/18.

The series consists of six events and culminates in the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final in Nagoya (JPN) in December – the last show down of the World’s best skaters from Europe, Asia and North America before the Olympic Games.

The series opens this year with Rostelecom Cup in Moscow (RUS), October 20 to 22 and is headlined by World and Olympic Champion Yuzuru Hanyu, two-time World Champion Evgenia Medvedeva (RUS), two-time World medalists Maia Shibutani/Alex Shibutani (USA) and European Champions Evgenia Tarasova/Vladimir Morozov (RUS).

Skate Canada in Regina, SK (CAN), October 27 to 29 features three-time World Champion Patrick Chan (CAN), World silver medalists Shoma Uno (JPN) and Kaetlyn Osmond (CAN) as well as 2017 World Champions and 2014 Olympic silver medalists Virtue/Moir and two-time World Pairs Champions Meagan Duhamel/Eric Radford (CAN).

Cup of China is the third event and will take place in Beijing November 3 to 5. World Champions Wenjing Sui/Cong Han (CHN), two-time World Champions Gabriella Papadakis/Guillaume Cizeron (FRA), Four Continents Champion Mai Mihara (JPN) as well as two-time World Champion Javier Fernandez (ESP) are competing.

The series continues with the NHK Trophy in Osaka (JPN) November 10 to 12 before moving back to Europe for the Internationaux de France November 17 to 19 in Grenoble (FRA). The last spots for the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final will be decided in Lake Placid (USA) at Skate America November 24 to 26.

More than 130 skaters/couples from 23 ISU Members have been invited. The number of entries for each event is 12 Ladies, 12 Men, 8 Pairs and 10 Ice Dance couples. The top 6 qualifiers in each discipline will proceed to the Final in Nagoya (JPN), December 7 to 10, 2017. The top junior skaters will compete as well in Nagoya in the ISU Junior Grand Prix Final.

 

Selection Criteria

The skaters are seeded and invited to the six Grand Prix of Figure Skating events based on the results of the ISU World Figure Skating Championships 2017. Skaters/couples who have placed 1 to 6 in each of the four categories are seeded and assigned to two events. Skaters/ couples who have placed 7-12 at the ISU World Figure Skating Championships are selected for two ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating events, and skaters with a top 24 high seasons best score as well as those placed in the top 24 of the World Standings can also be invited. If available medalists from the ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships and the ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final gold medalists can also be selected.

 In order for a skater/couple to be eligible to compete at a Grand Prix event, a minimum total score or minimum technical score must have been achieved in the previous or current season in an ISU event (GP, JGP, Championships, World Team Trophy or selected international competitions). Exceptions apply to host country skaters, previously ranked skaters or split ranked couples who return with new partners.  


Prize Money & Points

Competitors collect points in their Grand Prix events towards the qualification for the Grand Prix Final. The global prize money for the Grand Prix is US $ 272,000 and the prize money is awarded to winners and placed skaters/couples at the events as follows:

1st place US $ 18,000
2nd place US $ 13,000
3rd place US $ 9,000
4th place US $ 3,000
5th place US $ 2,000 


The points are awarded as follows:

1st place 15 points
2nd place 13 points
3rd place 11 points
4th place 9 points
5th place 7 points
6th place 5 points
7th place 4 points
8th place 3 points 

Pairs and Ice Dancers collect points up to 6th place. Full entry lists and results of the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating 2017/18 are available here.  Follow the discussion on social media by using #FigureSkating #GPFigure.